Green-Card Update: New Court Order Issued After Week Without Action

An Obama-appointed judge strongly criticized the Trump administration on Thursday night with an order meant to force the government to resume processing green card and work permit applications for immigrants from 39 countries under President Donald Trump’s travel ban.

The order, from U.S. District Judge John J. McConnell Jr., came a week after an initial ruling overturning U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ (USCIS) pause on processing a range of applications, which plaintiffs said had been ignored by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

Plaintiffs argued that the government had "continued to apply and enforce those policies" even after they were overturned June 5. Immigrants were still being denied green cards, citizenship, and work permits, an emergency filing Wednesday said.

“There is no excuse this time; the Government has an obligation to immediately comply with this Order,” McConnell wrote on Thursday, telling USCIS it had 24 hours to show how it was complying.

The Trump administration filed an appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals on Friday.

Newsweek reached out to DHS for comment via email Friday morning.

This is a breaking news story. Updates to follow.

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This story was originally published June 12, 2026 at 8:31 AM.